white stallion my ass
by whizz
Summary: axel/kairi; it's not happily ever after, but at least it's something.


**game; **Kingdom Hearts II  
**pairing; **Axel/Kairi  
**warnings; **AU  
**disclaimer; **I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters used. 

**i.**

This process has been repeated at least a billion times before; she's the new kid in school and so of course comments and insistent looks following her in the hallways are expected, girls rolling their eyes and rating her outfit and boys checking her out and childishly yelling out their approval - Kairi knows this, because it's only the _ninth _place they've moved to this year.

She's used to it, really, because she knows that it won't last too long before they change addresses again, with her father's unusual job and all. It's always been just the two of them, handling everything just fine; she balances cooking and cleaning with doing the homeworks quite nicely while he's constantly working overtime, and it also helps that she simply has grown tired of trying to create a social life since it's much too bothersome; sooner or later, she'd have to say her goodbyes, anyway, and the contact would be cut off just like that.

Kairi doesn't attempt to make eye contact with anyone or answer their obvious calls for attention as she tries to find the classroom, she just stomps right on in her worn-out Converse, baseball cap thrown messily across her heap of maroon hair.

And then, she finds herself promptly crashing into something tall and solid, effectively knocking her off balance and somehow ending up with her on the ground, Biology book be damned.

The first thought running through her head is _are you kidding me, _because the anorexic guy with spiky hair the color of fire in front of her merely smiles and arches a thin - definitely plucked - eyebrow at her. He offers a hand, his cat-like grin nowhere near his emerald eyes, and it wouldn't be so strange if it wasn't for his plain back uniform of leather and chains and colorful badges.

"Watch out, Juliet", he drawls arrogantly, "You lost your Romeo, or what?"

Kairi angrily stands without as much as giving the hand a glance and, taking notice of the teardrop tattoos beneath the guy's eyes, gives him the finger.

"Woah! Okay, then, sorry", he laughs, but it is obvious that he isn't at all. "Was it the wrong love story? Would you like me to call you princess, instead?"

The girl figures she really doesn't have the time for this, and so without hesitation, she turns on her heel and leaves the wannabe-punk behind, ignoring his shouts of, "Hey! Don't get lost on your way to the castle, princess!" 

Kairi hopes, from the bottom of her heart, that her dad will find the need to move soon enough.

**ii.  
**

She's at the local grocery store, picking nothing more than what's necessary; it's not as if the food is going to stay in the fridge for too long, after all.

Kairi curses her 5'6 tall body as she ends up standing on her tiptoes, blindly reaching for a package of rice at the top of a particularly high shelf, and yelping in a not-so-dignified way when she feels someone closing up on her from behind, a long arm covered in tight, black material bringing the rice to her eye level.

"There ya go, princess."

(and yeah, she can't believe how ridiculously unlucky she is).

"Could you please back off now?" she spits, suspiciously eyeing the way he's practically hovering over her, thin arms cutting off any possible escape.

"Oh, so you _can_ speak!" he chimes as if not hearing her, flashing that annoying smirk again. "Got me worried there for a while!"

Kairi presses her hand to her temple as if a headache is coming on, because honestly, this guy is just _too_ much.

"What do you _want _from me?" she demands, clutching the rice to her chest like you would a shield.

"Let me take you out", he answers without missing a beat, already seizing her wrist in those spidery fingers.

"Wait, wha- _No!_"

"Aw, come on, princess. Don't go breaking my heart", he pouts, leading her out of the store, the rice left forgotten on the floor along with the shopping basket. "Hey, I like that song", he adds as an afterthought, before humming the chorus.

"Hold on, you can't just- just, _who _are you?" Kairi splutters, surprised at her powerlessness as she lets herself be dragged along by this.. _weirdo _she met barely two weeks ago.

"Isn't it obvious?" he smirks. "The name's Prince Charming. But you can just call me Charming if you like."

She rolls her azure eyes; "Cheesy", but says nothing as he goes on babbling about whatever he was talking about in the first place, the grip on her hand not loosening even slightly.

It's not until _way _past bedtime (daddy's gonna' be so angry) when they're making out in his car ("not exactly a white horse, huh?") and he tucks her dark-red hair behind one ear, ("won't you stay, princess?") and the scent of his cologne tickles her senses, that she truly feels sorry about leaving the next day.

**iii.**

At least a month has gone by since they came here; a half-big town where the street lamps are constantly turned on. Kairi's busy doing nothing out of the ordinary (in other words, wasting time completely) and her father's busy doing what he's always been doing - working.

Walking down the streets roaming with unknown faces, however, she doesn't really feel so alone. The sun is at her back and she's grown her hair out; no, really, there's nothing that should feel out of place.

She doesn't know if it's fate or by coincidence, but she sees a dot of stark red among the crowd and something surges within her.

Kairi runs, pushing her way through the people and focusing on that spot of vivid color.

And of course she feels silly beyond what words could explain for saying it, but, well, she never learned his real name, after all, and-

"P..Prince Charming?" she calls, way too out of breath, close enough to be able to touch the black coat if she only reached out and-

He stops dead in his tracks, turning slowly, smug grin already stretching out on those cat-like lips.

"At your service, princess."

It's not 'happily ever after', the way she punches him in the side and the way he laughs it off effortlessly, but at least it's something.

**[end]**

A/N; don't ask what this is. seriously. i'm trying to get off my writer's block and this is the result, teehee. 


End file.
